Tabatha Coffey: Tabatha Lets Her Hair Down

Tabatha Coffey, star of Tabatha’s Salon Takeover on Bravo, blows out her image’s frosted tips and gives new meaning to the word “bitch.”

BY Brandon Voss

January 07 2010 6:15 PM ET

Another past Bravo reality series, Work Out, mainly focused on Jackie Warner’s gym, but viewers also met her girlfriend and got a glimpse into their crazy relationship. Has Bravo ever encouraged you to share more of your personal life on the show?They haven’t really encouraged or discouraged me, because that’s just not what the show is about. My show is about helping the business owners of salons, so I’m not really the focus on the show.

You’ve mentioned in previous interviews that you have a partner of more than 10 years. Would you consider a spin-off that delved into your personal life?I don’t know. It’s something I’ve never thought of. Honestly, I don’t know who would want to watch a day in the life of Tabatha, but my personal life is my personal life, and I hold my friends, my family, and my loved ones very dear. They’re not hidden, but I also don’t feel they need to be exposed to everyone.

It was good to see you loosen up a bit on a recent episode of Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live.Yeah, I can’t believe he hasn’t asked me back! I love Andy. I have a great relationship with him, and I think he’s hysterical.

You participated in a NOH8 campaign PSA last summer. As an out celebrity, do you feel a responsibility to be a vocal member of the community?No, I’ve always been that way. NOH8 is such a great campaign, and we need to make people aware of what’s going on, so I was more than happy to do that when they approached me.

You’ve made yourself very accessible to fans on Twitter and Facebook. What kind of response have you received from the gay community?I get a lot of questions from young people, predominantly gay women but some guys as well, who ask me about coming out and how to broach that subject with their family and friends. Or they’ll tell me about having these feelings toward someone and how they don’t know what to do. It’s always really moving to me. But I get a lot of responses from throughout the gay community just thanking me for being a positive role model and for not hiding who I am.

You’ll be meeting some of your fans at Splash in New York City. Are you looking forward to it?I’ve been there enough times to just go and hang out, but I can’t believe they actually asked me to come. The reason why I’m doing it and why I’ll do other appearances like that is because I really am incredibly grateful for everyone’s support. People have been e-mailing me and tweeting me to tell me that they’re driving in from places like Washington and Philly and spending the night in New York, so if they like me enough to come and see me, I’m more than happy to come spend a couple hours with them. And it’s great for the New York economy!

Salons aside, are there any other businesses you’d like to take over?I’m a hairdresser, so that’s what I know. A portion of my show is just good business common sense, so I do get a lot of letters from all kinds of different businesses asking if I’ll speak at their company or come take it over, but there’s nothing else I’d really love to take over — unless it was Alexander McQueen and I could raid the wardrobe.

When you walk into a fast-food joint, do you ever have the urge to jump over the counter?Oh, hell yes, I do! Every time I walk in I’m critiquing something — “That’s filthy, that’s disgusting, I can’t believe that person just spoke to someone like that.” But would I want to do it for a TV show? No.